24-hour community police teams cut burglary

The pilot schemes in Hammersmith and Fulham have also seen big increases in arrests of drug pushers, the closure of seven crack houses and the arrest of a murder suspect.

The results show the effect on crime since 24-hour community police teams were introduced in April in two of the borough's problem areas - Shepherd's Bush Green and Fulham Broadway.

They will remain for two years with the Tory-run council and local businesses footing the £4million bill.

In Fulham, burglaries from homes fell from 80 to 38, while snatches of bags and other items - often by youths on scooters - went down from 16 to seven. Car thefts almost halved and there were falls in shoplifting and assault.

The only blip was an increase in robberies, from 24 to 28.

In Shepherd's Bush, robberies dropped 46 per cent, from 91 to 49, and snatches by 40 per cent, from 35 to 21.

There were 56 drugs busts and the number of street drinkers on Shepherd's Bush Green was cut from 40 to 10.

However, the Shepherd's Bush team was less effective in tackling car crime - thefts of, and from, vehicles both increased. Woundings rose by almost 25 per cent.

But they made more than five times the number of arrests made by regular police patrols. Both areas saw an increase in drug offences, although this is seen as a positive step as it meant more pushers were being taken off the streets.

Tory mayoral candidate Boris Johnson was today examining the findingsand may make the teams a central plank of his campaign.

He said: "I am looking at the cost and resourcing issues involved in 24-hour safer neighbourhood policing. It is clear to me there is a real need for increased police presence to not only tackle crime but reassure the public."

But his Liberal Democrat rival Brian Paddick, a former Met deputy assistant commissioner, warned it risked letting wealthy areas pay for extra policing at the expense of others.

Mr Paddick said: "This leads to two-tier policing."

The project involves expanding normal six-strong safer neighbourhood teams to 31 officers and police community support officers to patrol round the clock, seven days a week.